March 30, 2026

A federal appeals court has ruled that Michigan prison officials cannot be held constitutionally responsible for the mishandling of a scabies outbreak at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility. In a 2–1 decision on March 26, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s ruling and held that senior prison officials are protected by qualified immunity from federal constitutional claims related to their failure to identify and properly treat the outbreak that afflicted women with persistent itching, rashes, and infections from 2016 to 2019

Women incarcerated at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility have released a solution-focused open letter urging Governor Whitmer to grant clemency to at least 100 women before the end of her term. In the letter, they propose adopting the Women’s Clemency and Resentencing Initiative, a three-phase reform plan created by incarcerated women.